To War, To Life, To Love
by SkyLight184
Summary: They all have different reasons for going. They all have different lives, different loves, and different backgrounds. But they all signed up, they all leave, and they all swear to return. War and homelife fic. HPxGW, DMxHG, RWxPP. Rated M for themes.


**Hello all. I know I've been awfully neglectful in the last year or so but once again Fate has been a fickle mistress and has tossed me from one end of the continent to the other, and back. I have several projects floating around in my head and on my hard drive, and I will try my best to translate them to text, but I make no promises. I do plan on updating Off a Door Step at some point soon, I just need to rediscover my love for that particular story.**

 **Disclaimer: I am obviously not J.K. Rowling. I'm merely practicing.  
Rated M for future themes- death, gore, sex, etc. Read at your own discretion, but please don't roast me for it. **

**This is something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for almost two years now. I knew I wanted to do something war-related, but I wasn't sure exactly how to cross that bridge and how I wanted to portray everyone. I have chosen my hard pairings (and again, if you don't like who I've chosen then don't murder me for it, you can always stop reading). I wanted to bring a softer side of wartime to light, but at the same time I don't want to disrespect the struggle that is battle. So. I'll be flip flopping every couple of chapters.  
I hope you enjoy, please send me feedback of any sort (flames shall be used to heat tea, however), and I'll get around to updating this as time permits. **

* * *

_They all have different reasons for going. They all have different lives, different loves, and different backgrounds. But they all signed up, they all leave, and they all swear to return._

"You didn't sleep." A young but weathered hand falls on a feminine shoulder. A dainty palm slides across the back of the hand, squeezing tightly.

"Of course not. I never have been able to the night prior." It is a whisper of a response, shaky and uncertain and full of all of the emotion that has not been expressed in the last few days.

He sighs then, guilty that her unrest is due to him, but another gentle pulse of her fingers over his lets him know that she is not upset.

"I'm not angry with you." She voices what he knows now and it is his turn to reassuringly grip her shoulder. "Just promise me you'll return, as always."

"I promise." He bends, lips to the top of her head, as she swallows the doubt and concern weighing on her mind and focuses on putting on her bravest face. She stands, stepping around her chair at the long dining table to come right before him. Her hands settle on his shoulders, sliding around until her arms are wound tightly about his neck. His arms easily encircle her waist, a comfortable trap that she swears she couldn't live without.

"You come back to me, Harry Potter." She squeezes his neck, hard, almost choking him right there in the dining room. "You come back to us. You hear me?"

"I will, Ginny." He promises against screwed shut green eyes and presses his hands deeper into the soft sway of her back. "I will."

* * *

"More tea?" She is always most accommodating on the morning of his departures, flitting to and fro as if nothing was wrong. Her hands shake as she keeps them busy, pouring another cup of too weak tea she has made herself because she refuses to let the house elves do anything on these mornings.

"Thank you." He takes the cup and saucer with grace, nodding in her direction slightly as she sets about fixing a plate with a muffin and fresh fruit. It will be his third breakfast plate so far. She sits then, fiddling with her napkin before reaching over to him with one hand desperately.

They sit in silence for a moment, he reading a company report like normal and she studying a research journal that has come in the post. Their calm is betrayed by the desperation so obvious in their held hands.

The house chimes with the time, the toll of the bell echoing throughout the large estate to remind him that it is nearly his time to go.

He clears his throat, folding the report and sliding it to the center of the table. She sighs and closes her journal, refusing to let go of his hand.

"Well." He forces a grim smile and she returns it with a polite one of her own, her mouth quivering with restrained feeling. His hand not holding hers comes to the back of her head, pressing her face to his chest as he tilts his cheek to her crown.

He feels rather than sees the tears leak through his shirt. He gives her a moment and then takes a half step back, his hand slipping from the back of her head to the underside of her chin, forcing her head up at the proper angle for a kiss. It is eager and desperate and tainted with salt, but it is them.

"I love you, Draco." It is the only time she allows herself to say it.

"I love you, Hermione." And this is the only time he will return the sentiment.

* * *

"Don't." He whispers the command against her back, that lovely expanse of pale skin that has been bared for him so many times. She tenses, irritated at being caught awake, but then she allows herself to relax back into the warm embrace she had been trying to escape. "Just a few more minutes."

"Okay." She mumbles in reply, drawing the scratchy sheets up to her chin while his arm tightens around her naked frame. She can feel him, as bare as her, against her back, his skin enticingly warm as usual.

Together they lay in silence, legs entwined sensually as he lets his mouth roam over her shoulder. She sighs at his ministrations, growing more comfortable by the minute. She has just arched her neck almost painfully, twisting nearly backwards to kiss him, when the low rumble of the wand alarm interrupts them. He swears under his breath and drops his forehead to hers, his eyes slipping closed. She bites her lip, anxious, and slowly they disentangle themselves.

"Don't go." She pleads softly as she watches him dress. He looks up at her, across the room to where she is drawing a robe tightly around her slender frame, and he shakes his head. "Please don't. I can't stomach the thought of…Of not having you back here."

"Half the time you can barely stomach the thought of me being here." He does the adorable upturn of his lips that she loves as he teases her but she frowns, shaking her head. He leans back in the chair he has been using to put on his boots, his hands going to work on the laces of his chest plate shields.

"Just stay with me. Please. I'll…I'll do anything. Just don't go." She is begging now, her hands clasped in front of her body as her eyes begin to water. He stands then, fixing the clasp on his cloak to complete the image she had first fallen for.

"I'll come back, Pansy. Don't worry. You aren't rid of me that easily."

"Shut up Ron." She slaps his arm and then collapses into his hug. "But come back. Please."

* * *

The three men meet at the designated spot, as usual, and greet each other like they always do. Handshakes are exchanged and pleasantries go around, each one asking after the others respective wife or girlfriend or lover. They make small talk and then it turns to business after a few short minutes.

Harry takes it upon himself to explain the plan, going over each explicit detail with the other two. Ron morphs into a calculating tactician, offering up suggestions for the betterment of the plan. Draco plays devil's advocate, the black mark on his record acting as his experience.

Then, after extensively going over any flaws or holes or unseen circumstance, they pack up their belongings and walk together towards the house in the distance. There they greet the gathered members of their coalition and once more go over the plan in full detail. Questions are answered, suggestions are considered, and then Harry takes a deep breath.

"It's time to go." He nods to Ron and Draco, who return the gesture, and then the collective group of roughly fifty people stand from the cramped room in the house and begin to file out.

* * *

 **A/N: There's your teaser. There will be more to this, obviously. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think.**


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